M. Zuhdi Jasser's Blog

The NYPD once again finds itself in the crosshairs of the New York Times. On Tuesday, theTimes resurrected a year-old story from the Village Voice about the showing of my documentary film The Third Jihad to officers participating in an NYPD training program. What was the new smoking gun that warranted a trifecta of an above-the-fold report from Michael Powell on January 24, an editorial (describing it as a "hate-filled film") on January 25, and yet another report in theTimes on January 25 — all amplified across the mainstream media by an AP rehash?

The Times was apparently impressed by new and supposedly devastating information that it was over 1,500 police officers who viewed the movie. Never mind that there are almost 35,000 officers on the force.

The Obama administration decided to dispatch Charles Bolden, head of NASA, to do "public diplomacy" on Al Jazeera, where he said that President Obama wanted him to "find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science, math, and engineering." He then announced that our deficit-ridden U.S. government will begin a new fund "to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries."

The 57 OIC countries include some of the wealthiest in the world, yet many are human-rights offenders. Handing them our technology and funds could end up strengthening theocrats and monarchs, further preventing real reform.

The events of September 11, 2009 opened America's eyes to the ruthlessness that militant Islamism can inspire. Yet eight years later our leaders and therefore our nation still struggles with the real threat that looms before us. The parsing of words in recent months of whether we are in a "War on Terror" or an "Overseas Contingency Operation" or even the Obama Administrations decision to designate 9/11 as a "Day of Service," demonstrate that our leadership is missing the point on what and who the true threat is to America.

President Obama's recent overture to the Taliban not only sends a dangerous message of appeasement to our sworn enemies, but it sends a lethal message of abandonment to all those who have suffered the oppression of the Taliban. He is effectively telling the Taliban that "we will work with you." Is President Obama unable to see the evil that has been perpetrated against humanity over the years by these Islamists? How can a Presidential candidate who campaigned on a message of "change" turn around as President and completely abandon those who seek change away from the thugs and theocrats of the Taliban of Afghanistan?

Yesterday a federal jury handed down a guilty verdict to five men for conspiring to kill American soldiers at Fort Dix in New Jersey last year. They face a maximum term of life in prison. Our American Islamic Forum for Democracy hailed the verdicts which brought the criminals to justice and will hopefully deter others like them from ever contemplating similar plots in the future. But then when I read the comments of the local CAIR-NJ (Council of American Islamic Relations) Chapter Executive director, I could not believe the tenor of his comments and those of CAIR supporter, James Yee.

The recent departure of Parvez Ahmed from CAIR's Board of Directors and his leadership post was just noted by my fellow blogger- Left Coast Conservative.

In the Florida Times Union piece, Jeff Brumley cites Dr. Ahmed's grievances over CAIR's lack of appeal to "less religious Muslims" and youth. He also criticizes their grievances as always appearing anti-American.

On Tuesday, Pew released a poll indicating that support for suicide bombings is on the decline in the Muslim world, among other things. How encouraging is this poll? What can we do — as a government, as private entities — to use the information constructively? National Review Online asked a group of experts. The following is M. Zuhdi Jasser's response.

This week’s Pew study results are dangerously oversimplified. Improvements in economics and moods in the developing world are in no way reason enough for the sharp decline in support for suicide bombing. The recent 45-doctor plot in London and Glasgow told us that much. For now, it is not only too early, but downright irresponsible to have a collective sigh of relief.

As we have often seen, Pew avoids the why. In their latest report, they again ignore the most central global question: Islamism and its conflict with America and the West.

Based on what we’re learning about the plot, the cell, and how their plans were averted, National Review Online asked a group of experts: What’s the most important lesson we should take from the averted terrorist attack on Fort Dix? The following is M. Zuhdi Jasser's response:

News of the FBI’s arrests of six militant Islamists in New Jersey who plotted to kill our soldiers at Fort Dix was met yet again with the same tired responses of shock and dismissal from the mainstream media (MSM) and from major American Islamist organizations. An FBI agent poignantly noted that we “dodged another bullet.” The enemy is certainly rearming and germinating another cell somewhere. Rather than the same old tired minority politics, we in the Muslim community should be accepting the responsibility of cleaning our own house. More Muslims, more media, and more government officials should be noting that:

In today’s English language Saudi government daily newspaper, the Arab News, CAIR’s, Nihad Awad, has chosen to use this foreign venue to respond to legitimate criticism for an American Muslim organization.

Arab News reporter, Barbara Ferguson, reporting for the Saudi government daily out of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, provides this so-called news “report” available on-line.

In Wednesday’s Washington Times, it was refreshing to see Tony Blankley lead the way in demanding that the American public start asking more questions about Islamism. He asks the questions which very few are asking and yet seems so obvious after so long into this war.